Coiler



5 Sheets-Sheet l Dec. 30, 1941. L. w. NASH ETAL GOILER Filed June 27, 1938 :l 1 w Aww@ Dec. 30, 1941. L.. w. NASH ETAL COILER 5 SheeLS-Shee'kl 2 Filed June 2.7, 1938 Dec. 30, 1941. w, NASH ETAL 2,268,125

GOILER v Filed June 2'7, 1938 5 Sheets--Sheefl 3 Dec. 30, 1941.

5 sheets-sheet 4 L. W.ANASH ETAL COILER Filed June 27, 1938 Dec. 30, 1941. L. w. NASH ETAL COILER 5 sheetssheet 5 Filed June 27, 1958 mentes Dec. so, 1941 COILEB Leonard W. Nash, Damascus, and George A. Martin, Salem, Ohio, assignors to E. W. Bliss Company, Brooklyn N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Application June 27, 1938, Serial No. 216,174

4 Claims.

Our present invention relates to the art o! coiling strip material and aims to provide certain improvements therein. More particularly. it relates to the method of and apparatus for coiling hot strip metal, both ferrous and non-ferrous, although it is applicable equally well for coiling sttftl; strip and analogous material in the cold s Heretofore diiliculty has been experienced in satisfactorily ceiling hot strip metal directly upon and at its speed of delivery from the last stand of a bankoi hot rolling mills: (1) because of the buckling and deforming of the strip uponstarting it around the mandrels of coilers now .in use with the resulting waste accruing from such deformation; (2) because of the diiliculty of stripping tightly wound coils from the mandrel due to the tendency of the hot metal to strongly when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein we h'ave shown a practical embodiment of our invention, and wherein- Figure 1 is a side elevation of a coller embodying our invention;

Fig. 21s a front elevation of the invention with particular respect to the coller and coil-stripping means, certain parts being broken away to better l disclose the constructional features;

Fig. 3 is an axial section through the coller mandrel with certainparts thereof shown in ele-A vation; v

Fig. 4 is an end elevation of the coller as viewed from the left end of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is asection through the coller taken substantially along the' plane of the line 5-5 of Pig. 3;

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 5 showing the coiler segments in collapsed relation;

Fig. 'I is anenlarged elevation oi a detail of the invention showingthe arrangement of the y sprayer nozzle and the blocker rolls at the strip entering station of the coller, certain parts being shown in section to better illustrate the construction thereof;

Fig. 8 is a top plane of the nozzle with parts broken away;

Fig. 9 is an end elevation of the nozzle as viewed from the top of Fig. 8.

Referring to the drawings, the invention is shown as primarily intended for use in connection with strip I5 received on a mill delivery table i6 from a hot rolling mill (not shown) for presentation to a coller indicated generally by the reference character Il at substantially the speed at which the strip is discharged from the last stand of a hot rolling mill. Preferably two coilers Il and il are mounted in tandem in pits below the mill delivery table as shown in Fig. 1 so that strip can be wound as fast as itis delivered from the hot rolling mili, the tandem relation being such as to permit.the strip which has been wound into a coil on one of the coilers to be discharged therefrom while a subsequent strip is being wound on the other coller. To control the coller upon which the strip is to be wound there is provided at the rear of a pinch roll unit I8 a controllable gate i! which is pivoted at 20 and adapted to be moved about said pivot to either deect the strip to move downwardly toward the coller i'l or to permitthe strip to pass over the top of the gate and proceed to the coller il'.

The pinch roll unit I8 is mounted at the entrance side of the coller I'i directly in line with the mill delivery table I6 and, as is conventional, consists of a small bottom roll 2| `and a larger top roll 22, both rolls being preferably motor driven and the top roll being mounted so that it can be quickly raised out of contact with the strip. Any suitable means may be provided for raising the top roll 22 and, as herein shown, said means consists of an air cylinder 23 and a lever 24 which in turn is connected to the end of a piston rod 25 and to theend of a link 2B connected to the bearing housing of the roll 22. For guiding the strip through the pinch roll unit so as to center said strip with respect to the center line of the coller, suitable lateral guides 2l, best shown inFig. 2, are provided. These guides may be suitably adjusted in accordance with the width of the strip to be coiled by means of a motor 2l. a reducing gear 29 and the attendant lever and crank connections as shown, all of which are common to the art and do not require detailed description. A second pinch roll unit lll' is disposed'at the entrance side of the coller il' and as the unit I8' and the coller il' are in all respects the same as the units i8 and Il respectively. the description will be limited to the nrst mentioned units with the understanding that it will be applicable to both.

Above the coller I1, at the entrance guideway thereto, there is mounted a pair of throat rolls 30 (Flgs..1 and '1) which, according to the present invention are preferably normally separated several inches apart and are merely employed for the purpose of facilitating guiding of the strip and helping to keep it from bearing too hard on the cast iron guides 30a and 30h. l The strip, upon passing through the throat rolls 3l, is guided onto the coiler I1 -to be coiled therearound. The coiler I1 comprises a collapsible mandrel 3| (Figs. 3 to 6) which, when fully expanded, has a truly cylindrical surface contour which `is conducive to better and more efficient coil formation. More specifically, the mandrel 3l is of. the segment and wedge type and 'comprises a plurality of arcuate segments 32 circumferentially disposed about a rotatable core 33, the said segments being axially spaced apart by a plurality of wedge elements 34,y the segments 32 and wedges 34 being connected to the core or to a part ilxedly carried by the core through the medium of links 35 and 33-respectively. The segments and wedges are mounted for simultaneous movement axially of the mandrel by being connected to one end of a shaft or rod 31 through a disk 33 mounted on said shaft, and Z-shaped connecting .elements 39 mounted on said disk 33 and extending into interior circumferential recesses 40 and 4| in the segments and wedges respectively adjacent their discharge ends. As an aid in assembling the arcuate segments 32 and the wedges 34 into cylindrical form around the core 33, plates 42 are employed for connecting pairs of the Z-shaped elements togetlier.

Upon inspection of Figs. 3 and 5 of the drawings it will be apparent that the links 35, which are connected to the arcuate segments 32, are somewhat longer than the llinks 35 which are connected to the wedges 34. These links are made of different lengths so that as the rod 31 is moved outwardly, that is to the left in Fig. 3, the wedges- 3d will move radially inwardly more rapidly than will the segments 32, through which cooperative action it will be appreciated that the movement of the segments 32 will not be hampered or interfered with during collapsing and expanding the mandrel. The inner faces of each of the arcuate segments 32 at the lateral sides thereof, are preferably flat and lie in a common plane of the plane chord of the cylinder of which said segments form a part. It will also be noted that as herein disclosed, four segments are employed and the inner faces of these are preferably disposed at substantially right-angles to each other and when the mandrel is collapsed the inner faces of these segments form substantially a square prism as will be apparent from inspection of Fig. 6. For cooperation with `the inner faces of the segments 32 the wedges 34 have their outer faces disposed at substantially right angles to each other and are so dimensioned that when they are in expanded relation to the core their outer faces will fill the gaps between theedges of the arcuate segments to provide a truly cylindrical surface.

To facilitatey the assembly of the arcuate segments 32 with respect to the core 33, the links 35 of each segment are connected to a ller block 43 which is mounted within a slideway 44 in the core. To insure the driving action of the segments 32 by the core 33 during rotation thereof core, the links, and the ear and lug connections above described by having the core connected for rotation by the shaft of a driving unit 49 which is suitably driven by a variable speed motor 50. The mandrel is collapsedy by the outward movement of the rod 31, the rear end of which is connected to the piston of an air cylinder 5| which is mounted at the rear of the shaft of the mandred driving unit 43.

Spaced circumferentially around the surface of the mandrel 3| and normally held under pressure in rolling contact therewith are a plurality of axially extending blocker rolls 52 (Figs. 1 and '1).

Preferably these rolls are mounted in pairs, each pair upon a frame or carrier 53 mounted to slide in fixed guides 54 disposed radially with respect to the mandrel. Each frame or carrier 53 is connected through a link 55, a bell crank lever 56, and a link 51 to a piston rod 58 of a piston (not shown) mounted within a cylinder 53. Preferably a single cylinder and piston are employed for controlling the movement of two of the frames or carriers 53 as best shown in Fig. 1 in which case one of the bell-crank levers 56 is directly connected to a cylinder by a link 51'.

Suitable fluid pressure may be supplied to the cylinders 59 for controlling the movement of the pistons therein and the control of this pressure may be manual by an operator at a point spaced from the coiler or in any other suitable manner. The rolls 52 may be positively driven by a motor carried by each of the frames 53, or by merely having the rolls 52 held in pressure engagement l which fluid enters the chamber 3|.

with the mandrel and frictionally driven thereby. By having the blocker rolls operating in slides and arranged in pairs, each pair oi' rolls always maintains an equal spacing about the circumference of the coil as it builds up in diameter, regardless of the diameter of the coil.

Directly in advance of the throat rolls 33 and the guide 30h there is a spray nozzle 60 disposed for discharging fluid under pressure (preferably water) against the surface of the strip substantially at the line of tangency of said strip with the mandrel or the surface of the convolution of a coil formed on said mandrel. The purpose of this spray is to form a film of vapor between the coil and the mandrel and between successive convolutions of the coil. The nozzle 60 is illustrated in detail in Figs. 8 and 9 and comprises a housing having a hollow chamber 5| extending longitudinally thereof `and from the forward end of which spray ducts 62 extend. 'Ihe nozzle housing also has a duct 63 through 'I'he ilui'd may be conducted to the nozzle through a suitable hose or conduit 64 and the flow of said fluid may be' manually controlled by an operator, or automatically, as desired. 'Ihe nozzle 60 is preferably mounted to pivot about the axis of the i entering blocker roll shaft so that the nozzle will recede with the blocker roll as the coil builds up. For providing this pivotal connection, the ends of the nozzle housing are formed with lugs 65 for en- Preferably i gagement with the shaft of the blocker roll 82a,

`shown in Fig. 7. For further controlling the movement of the nozzle as the coil builds up, so as to maintain the tangential relation of the discharge ducts C! of the nozzle with respect to the surface of the strip and its cooperating coil forming surface, the nozzle housing has connected thereto links BB, which in turn are connected through bell crank levers B1 mounted on the blocker roll frame B3 and links 68 to the bell crank levers 58 of the blocker roll-operating unit.

In view of this mounting of the nozzle with respect to the blocker roll 52a, it will be apparent that as the coil buildS;. l1D the nomle will be constrained to move in a direction to maintain its substantially tangential relation with the surface of he coil at its point of tangency with the blocker roll 52h. i

For stripping the coil from the mandrel we provide a stripper element 69 (Figs. 1 and 2) which, as herein shown, has a semi-circular or bifurcated portion having an i internal diameter slightly less than that of the mandrel when expanded so as `to engage the innermost convoluover the guide 30a, throat rolls 30, guide 30h,

and the top of the nozzle 60. After one or two convolutions of the strip are wound about the mandrel, which is driven at the samespeed as the pinch rolls, the roll 22 of the pinch roll unit is raised and the coil is wound up with no tension except its own weight.

According `to the second method, the strip is wound with a certain predetermined tension somewhat similar to winding on a cold strip mandrel. Where this is to be accomplished the rolls of the pinch roll unit it are held together throughout the coiling operation and by means of an electrical control fairly constant tension can be maintained between the pinch roll unit and the mandrel. For varying the speed of the mandrel as the coll builds up, there may be connected to the blocker roll 52h a lever or other equivalent` means for operating a rheostat (not shown) to vary the current supplied to the motor 50. V

In the operation of the coller according to either of the methods above briefly described, the mandrel is rotated, the blocker rolls are moved into engagement with the mandrel and held in such engagement by pressure admitted to the cylinders 59. The blocker rolls may be either positively driven or frictionally driven by the rotation of the mandrel and as the leading end of thestrip i 5 is fed onto the mandrel which has a lineal speed approximately equal to the speed of the strip, the strip will be constrained to pass around the mandrel by the set of blocker rolls. To insure such action wedge blocks 1l may be positioned between the rolls of each pair and the end of the frames 53 may be also so shaped to promote this action. Prior to and during the strip ceiling operation water under pressure is sprayed between the underside of the strip and (kept rotating) by the mandrel on the inside of the coil. This keeps the coil winding up tight. As the coil builds up the pressure of the blocker rolls against the coil increases slightly but this has been found not to be detrimental. However. should it be desired to maintain a constant pressure of the blocker rolls on the coil as it builds up a blow-olf or relief valve may be connected to each of the cylinders Il to maintain a constant pressure acting on the pistons therein.

When the strip has been completely wound onto the coil, the mandrel is stopped, the pressure acting on the pistons I9 is reversed so as to withdraw the blocker rolls out of engagement with.

the coil. The mandrel is then collapsed by admitting fluid pressure into the cylinder 5i to move the rod, 31 outwardly, which movement carries the Z-bar plates 39 with it to longitudinally move the mandrel sections and in view of the link connections between said sections and they mandrel core, the mandrel sections are caused to move radially inwardly or collapse. 'I'he stripper 69 is then operated by admitting air into the cylinder 13. Movement of the stripper will operate to discharge the coil from the mandrel onto a suitable platen 15 from which it may be transferred as desired. As the stripper moves to strip the coil it would also have the tendency to move the mandrel in the direction for collapsing in the event of its sticking and thereby insures the collapse of the mandrel independently of the movement of the plunger 31.

As one coil is being stripped and discharged from the coller, a subsequent coil can be wound by controlling the gate i9 to guide the strip to the other coller mounted in tandem with the iirst. In this manner the strip can be coiled and discharged from the coilers for either storage or presentation to the pickllng baths as rapidly as the strip can be delivered by the hot rolling mills.

It will thus be seen that we have provided a coller and a method of coiling strip material which greatly increases the rate at which hot strip material can be wound and the quality of the coils thus formed. It will further be appreciated that the coller is adapted for use with strip material other than hot ferrous strip and although we have showna preferred and operative embodiment of our invention. it is to be understood that we do not wish to be limited to `the specific construction and arrangement of parts described since these may be varied within the range of engineering skill without departing from the spirit of the invention, as denned in the accompanying claims.

What we claim is:

i. In a high speed coller for hot metal strip or the like, in combination, a rotatable collapsible mandrel having a substantially unbroken cylindrical surface when in expanded condition and a plurality of rolls mounted in pairs extending parallel to the axis of the mandrel and spaced circumferentially around the surface thereof and normally resiliently held under pressure in rolling` contact therewith, and means for constraining the pairs of rolls to move in straight lines substantially radially outwardly as the coll builds up on the mandrel.

2. In a high speed coller for hot metal strip or the like. in combination, a rotatable collapsible mandrel having a substantially unbroken cylindrical surfacewhen in expanded condition and a plurality of rolls extending parallel to the axis of theV mandrel and spaced circumferentially around the surface thereof, and normally held under pressure in rolling contact therewith. and radially disposed slides for guiding the movement of the rolls outwardly in straight lines as the coil builds up on. the mandrel whereby to 'Y maintain the predetermined angular spacing of t the rolls about the circumference of the coil.

3. In a coller for metal strip or the like, in combination, a rotatable collapsible mandrel having a normally unbrokenv cylindrical surface for supporting and winding a strip into the form of a coil, means for guiding the strip onto the manassale 4. In a coller for metal strip or 'the like.-in combination, a rotatable mandrel having a normally unbrolse'n cylindrical surface.' a plurality of axially extending pressure rolls spaced apart circ umferentially around vthe surface of the mandrel, and normally held under resilient pressure in rolling contact therewith, means for guiding the strip to the mandrel, a nozzle at the strip entering side of the mandrel for discharging uid under pressure against the inner surface of the strip substantially at the line of tangency of said stripand its cooperating coil forming surface. said nozzle being mounted on the shaft of the pressure roll which is rearwardly of the strip entering side of the mandrel so as to move outwardly therewith and supplemental means connecting the nozzle with the pressure roll supporting means to constrain the movement of the nozzle so as to maintain its tangential discharge relation to the strip being coiled as the coil builds up.

LEONARD W. NASH.y GEORGE A. MARTIN. 

